Upper Minnehaha Creek Watershed Nutrient and Bacteria TMDL Study

This Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study addresses nutrient impairments in twenty lakes and an E. coli impairment in Painter Creek within the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD), which is located within the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The MCWD covers approximately 178 square miles in Hennepin and Carver Counties, including parts of Minneapolis, Minnesota and its western suburbs. The watershed drains to Minnehaha Creek and ultimately the Mississippi River. The water bodies addressed in this study are located within a distinct hydrologic basin within the MCWD referred to as the "Upper Watershed," which drains through agricultural land and suburbs west of Minneapolis to Lake Minnetonka, which outlets into Minnehaha Creek. The goal of this TMDL is to quantify the pollutant reductions needed to meet State water quality standards for nutrients in the lakes and E. coli standards in Painter Creek.